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Compare And Contrast The Alien And Sedition Acts Of 2002 Dbq

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In 1798 America believed that it was going to fight a war against France due to increased hostilities between the two nations. Meanwhile, America was also divided into two political groups, the Jeffersonian Republicans, and the Federalists. European immigrants often became pro-Jeffersonians because the group was more welcoming than the aristocratic Federalists who discriminated against poor immigrants. In 1798, the Federal Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts and presented them as laws meaning to protect the United States from threatening foreigners during the imminent war with France but the acts really intended to weaken the Jeffersonian Republicans. These acts were not only dishonestly introduced but also violated Americans’ …show more content…

Jeffersonians detested these acts because they believed they impeded on the rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights granted Americans freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but these laws threatened to punish those speaking ill of the government and prohibited people from publishing things that would tarnish a government official’s image. While many believed these acts were unconstitutional and unnecessary, Secretary of State Pickering defended them. It stated, “The Alien Law has been bitterly inveighed against as a direct attack upon our liberties, when in fact it affects only foreigners who are conspiring against us, and had no relation whatever to an American citizen” (10G1). This quote shows that Pickering believed that since the acts only infringed on the rights of those wishing to bring harm to the United States, these acts were necessary. However, not only potentially dangerous foreigners commented on the wrongs of the government and its officials and even if the commentary was based on fiction, the First Amendment states that people have the freedom to express any opinion without restraint. At best, the laws would’ve

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